You have a good chance of encountering bins of goods for sale when you’re traveling. They often make interesting subjects for a pocket camera photo. The photos are colorful, make interesting texture patterns, and provide something to ponder when you return home and have the time. There is more to see in the photos than you had time to contemplate on the spot.
Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America. It spans the border between California and Nevada, southwest of Reno. One of the streams feeding the Lake forms Eagle Falls as it cascades into Emerald Bay on the California side. The top of the falls is only a few feet from the road, but I had driven by several times in the past without noticing it; waterfalls are not so exciting from the back. On a cold day in mid-May I took a two-frame panorama, looking towards Emerald Bay. The scene had interesting elements, but lacked punch. That is, until I unleashed the Topaz Labs Spicify Photoshop plug-in filter.
Silver Lake is a small lake in the mountains near better-known Mono Lake. The Lakes are east of Yosemite National Park in California, and as of last week the pass through Yosemite was still closed by snow. We drove south from Tahoe on the east side of the Sierras. Apparently not many people do that, because things were, shall we say, quiet. There were a few signs of early spring, but the aspen trees still had no leaves. It must be around 8,000 feet at Silver Lake, because aspens don’t grow at much lower altitudes.
The pinnacles at Pinnacles National Monument are the worn remnants of an ancient volcanic crater. This time of year there is greenery from winter rains to compliment the warm tones of the rock. In a few months, summer heat will dry the landscape and make walking the trails an altogether different experience. For now, cool temperatures and bright colors are made for the photographer.
Early this month we traveled east to the California mountains for a few days. It was Spring in most of California, including the foothills where stayed. It was nice weather the first day, but it rained for the next two. Rain down slope means snow in the higher elevations. The best conditions for beautiful snow cover are temperatures not far below freezing with no wind. That lets the snow accumulate on the trees. With that prospect overnight and clear skies the next morning we drove to Calaveras Big Trees State Park.
The city of Ithaca, New York, boasts having over a hundred waterfalls and gorges within ten miles. The web led me to one of the more noted, Ithaca Falls. My goal for photographing such sights is to answer the question: “What was it like?” To start with, it was cold. Beyond that, the falls were beautiful, the stream from the falls was in a gorge, and there were a few tourists enjoying the scenery.
Autumn is a time for visiting farm stands. There are pumpkins to be selected for Halloween, apples, and all manner of squash. So maybe not everyone thinks “panorama” at the farm stand, but, of course, I do. I like panoramic photos. Panoramas are well suited to scenes where there is a lot going on, as there was recently at Mike’s Truck Garden in Fulton, California.
Markleeville is the seat of Alpine County, a geographically large area having only about 1500 residents. The residents get to enjoy some of that eastern Sierra scenery. Markleeville is a small town (pop. 197) about 50 miles southeast of Lake Tahoe. Route 89 continues south of the town, ultimately turning east through Monitor Pass.
Roughly six miles south of Markleeville, the road crosses over the Carson River, providing an accessible photogenic view. The 4 PM late September sun provided contrasty lighting, just the thing for my recently recovered interest in high dynamic range imagery (HDRI). I took three frames, bracketed 1 1/2 stops around the nominal exposure, then added some extreme contrast enhancement to the foreground.
I did get a few photos at the aquarium, and they served to remind me of some of the problems at such a venue. Many people were taking pictures with the flash on. That’s going to get pictures of the white reflection off the glass, not the fish. It’s better to seek the well-lit exhibits. Getting up against the glass avoids reflections and steadies the camera, but don’t prevent the lens from adjusting to focus. Better to rest a forearm on the glass. That keeps off fingerprint smears as well. Some exhibits are dark with the sea creatures highlighted from above. These have to be underexposed by at least two stops below automatic to keep the background dark.
Point Reyes National Seashore is well known for scenery, wildflowers, and summer fog. The park is about an hour north of the Golden Gate Bridge, either following California’s Highway 1 up the coast or winding through the hills west of the city of San Raphael. During a recent visit there were wildflowers, but not much sunshine. Hence the adjusted goal was to taken moody pictures of gumplant. I ended up merging four images into a wide angle view.
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